>> this is "bbc world news. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> the american general and their women woes. a scandal among the u.s. top

brass claims a second scamp amid growing concerns of a security breach. first, the c.i.a. boss general petraeus quits over an affair. now, john allen, email ex changes connected to the scandal. >> also in the program, we report from golden heights where tension is rising after israel and syria exchange fire across their border. in china, it's all change at the top. we have a special report on how the next generation is determined to tread its own path. >> i would like to be a software engineer. >> so you don't want to do the sort of things that your parents

did? >> never. >> hello, it's midday here in london, 7:00 in the morning in washington. there's been a new twist to the sex scandal engulfing the american military top brass there. on friday, general david petraeus resigned as boss of the c.i.a. after it was revealed that he had been having an extra marital affair. now general john alan has been drawn into the scandal after what is being called inappropriate communications with a woman also linked to the affair. he has denied any wrong doing, but his application for a top nato job has been put on hold. >> there will be moments like this -- >> another top american commander, another career threatened. this time it's general john allen. he's in charge of u.s. forces in afghanistan, and he was about to be confirmed as the supreme allied commander europe. but he's now under investigation for alleged inappropriate communications.

apparently tens of thousands of pages of emails and daments spanning the past two years with this woman, jill kelly. she's a volunteer with military families at the u.s. base in tampa, florida. but she's also a key player in the scandal surrounding general petraeus who resigned as director of the c.i.a. last week. it was kelly's complaints about alleged emails, from general petraeus's biographer that prompted an investigation. officials then discovered there has been an extramarital affair. they searched paula's house on monday night. it's clear that with another general in the frame, the investigation is not over. general petraeus is said to be devastated by his fall from grace. today, the u.s. defense secretary said the general's decision to resign from the c.i.a. was the right one. >> i think he took the right

step. and i think it's important when you're director of the the c.i.a. with all the challenges that come with that position that personal integrity comes first and foremost. >> washington has been rocked by this crisis at the top of america's military machine. there are many lurking questions. in particular, why the white house only learned of the investigation last week and whether national security was put at risk. >> members of china's communist party are still gathered in beijing are the next generation of party leaders will be chosen next week. what do commy these people make of the change -- who do the chinese people make of the changes at the top? >> people come here from all over china, a world heritage

sight, it's tran quill lake and historic temples that is modern china. it seems a million miles of the hustle and bustle of beijing and behind the closed doors politicking that's going on there. in many ways it's the perfect place to find out what people are thinking about their country. not just now but for this future as well. designer handbags and smart phones, this is a generation that can't remember anything but prosperity. and there's no turning back for them. >> my father is a worker from a very big nation of field company. my mother is a small businessman, a tailor. >> she's a tailor? >> yeah. >> and what about you, what would you like to do? >> i would like to be a software engineer. >> a software engineer? >> yeah. >> so you don't want to do the sort of things that your parents did? >> never.

>> never? >> yeah. i don't like their jobs. >> and their patients would have never admitted to personal ambition. today it's expected. >> if i make $100,000 this year, next year i want to go for a million. >> but that may become harder. the economy is slowing down, not least because of the global economic crisis. lee jilllies in britain but comes to see family every year. he notices it's quiting tougher. >> labor is expensive. most factories are closing down. >> that model of china of producing lots of things cheaper, you think that model is not working any more? >> i think it's becoming more difficult. >> so that's the challenge for china's new leadership, due to be unveiled this week. how to manage expectations when there's less to go around.

>> later, we'll hear from china's young entrepreneurs who are challenging traditional family values and also a special report from our correspondent who has managed to get to the islands that's at the center of the dispute between china and japan. let's take a look at other stories. a team in ro malia has begun the process which will begin exhumation of the former palestine leader air fat. claims he was poisonned. reports say that stones and concrete are being removed. he died in a french military hospital in 2004. aung san suu kyi has arrived in the indian capitol for her first visit in almost 40 years. during her stay she'll meet the indian prime minister, tour parliaments and deliver a public

lex chur. heavy rains and strong winds have left vast areas of the central italy, hundreds were evacuated from their homes where one man was reporteded to have died in his car. this is the same weather system that sent 70 cities under water on sunday. there's been more tension along the disputed border between israel and syria known as the golden heights. israel has fired on a syrian army post. it says it was responding to stray fire from fighting between syrian government forces and rebels. israel's seized the golden heights in 1967. the u.n. has been in place on the cease-fire line since. let's get more from golden heights.

good to see you. what's going on there today? >> well, so far we've been hearing some pretty heavy exchange of gunfire on the syrian side of the heights. that's the ongoing fighting that's been happeninging at the cease-fire line basically. as far as this sight, the occupied sight, things have been very quiet today. there have been so far no reported incidents of mortar shells falling on the occupied side on the israeli population areas. we did however see some israeli machinery at work along the anti-tank tunnels. these are the tunnels that are built along the buffer zone, along the cease-fire line and they have been, it's really army machinery has been digging deeper into these tunnels in what seems to be an attempt to broaden the tunnels as it were. but as far as the towns that are

close to the border are concerned, things are been very quiet. >> obviously it appears apparent and please correct me if i'm wrong, the conflict in syria is beginning to have an impact in israel. >> well, as far as the israeli's are concerned, at least the official israeli narrative, is that any tension so far on the other side of the border is strictly a syrian matter. the mortar shells that have fallen on this side of the heights they say have fallen by mistake. however, the israelis are very uncomfortable with the fact that the fighting is getting very close to the border right now. the last thing they would want is to have any kind -- i mean, so far this has been the most quiet frontier for the israelis for over 40 years now. so the last thing they want is for any disruption of the peace on this side. they seem to be more concerned with what's happening down south with the gaza strip. so as far as the israeli's are

concerned, they're saying so far nothing is happening that is cause for concern. they think these shells are falling. but they did warn, they did say however they are ready to face any developments. and yesterday they've made that absolutely clear when the mortar shells fell on the occupied side, they retaliated by firing directly at an artillery piece that belongs to the syrian regime. >> so making it clear they want to keep the issue separate from what's going on in syria, it's still evident that tension is rising and israel isn't going to lie down and let this happen. >> well, they're not. at least so far they're being very quiet about this. it's definitely on the agenda today. the prime minister is having a cabinet meeting, discussing among other things the situation in syria. but if anything, it's actually the syrian opposition, the free syrian army who warned israel and asked israel not to

interfere in the syrian matter, in the fighting that's happening. as far as the syrian opposition is concerned, if israel interferes, they see it as an interference in favor of the syrian regime. for as far as israel is concerned, they don't want any disruption of the situation among the borders and they did make it clear they are ready for any development. >> thanks very much for bringing this up today. other news now, the canadian man who was believed to be in a vegetate tive state for more than a decade has been able to communicate to scientists that he's not in any pain. he suffered a serious injury when he was involved in a car accident, but it's the third time that a severely brain damaged patient has been able to respond regarding their care. here's more. >> scott is about to show he can communicate with his mind rather

than his body. doctors thought he was vegitative, unaware of himself or the outside world. >> i want you to imagine that you're playing tennis. >> imagining playing tennis produces a distinct pattern of brain activity which shows up on the screen as red blobs. inside the scanner, scott starts to respond revealing he has a conscious, thinking mind. >> i want you to tell us whether you are in any pain. >> this is a crucial question for the well-being of patients like scott. and the scans suggests he clearly answers no. >> i think it was enormously significant. it was the first time we have asked a patient a question in the scanner that is actually relevant to their clinical condition. >> the researchers have already validated this technique in publications in leading medical journals, and they say the results here can't be down to chance. >> the results have delighted scott's family, who thought he

could sometimes respond with his thumb or eyes, and say their observations were dismissed as wishful thinking. scientists say the scans could be used to improve patients quality of life, for example, checking with the happy they're times their fed and washed, or the entertainment they're shown. >> still to come, heading into troubled waters, we have a special report from the island between the dispute of china and japan as the rival navy's face off. leaders in latin america have called on the united nations to examine drug policy in the region following a move by two u.s. states to legalize marijuana. >> as well as voting in the presidential election last week, voters in colorado and

washington state also made another important decision. they opted to legalize the use of recreational marijuana in defiance of federal law. while advocates of the move celebrated the decision, the several leaders in central america it has created an untenable situation. they say they are being urged by washington to direct their troops and resources towards the fight against drug cartels, only to see those operations undermined by a drug policy in the u.s. the mexican president was among those calling for more clarity. >> there's the need to deeply analyze the social implications for our countries due to the ongoing processes at local and state levels in some countries in our continent which allow the production, consumption and legal distribution of marijuana. >> this is undoubtedly a headache for mr. obama.

his administration has yet to make clear how it intends to impose federal law prohibitting the use of the drug on colorado and washington state. they stopped short of saying it might relax its attitude towards marijuana smuggling. marijuana is the main cash crop for the violent drug cartels and advocates in colorado and washington say it will reduce the gangs profits. but that is not a position currently shared by the obama administration. the leaders in central america least, u.s. drug consumption policy remains a very square peg in a round hole. will grant, "bbc news," mexico city. >> our main story this hour, the top american commander in afghanistan general john allen is to be investigated over emails to a woman at the heart

of the petraeus scandal. time now for some business news. less of a scandal, but more of a mystery i think, with microsoft. what's going on there. it just launched windows to much fanfare. has it gone? >> no, the fanfare's still being questioned at the moment. this is shocking news, this is surprising news, not my words, but the words from tech experts that i've been speaking to. we're talking about the man who quit microsoft with immediate effect, and experts tell us we can't underestimate just how important this man was. he was the myself ro behind windows 8 and that tablet that just launched last month. these products are considered the future, certainly flagships products for microsoft. and his name had always been touted as being the possible next successor to the current chief executive. so the tech world of the moment a little baffled as to his depar

sure especially because microsoft hasn't given any reason. on top of that, it's come at a time where we're seeing constant changes in this industry last month to senior executives quit apple. last month yahoo appointed a new chief operating officers. and we hear it's all about the industry keeping up with the very fast rapid changes, and keeping up from competition that's coming from unexpected quarters. >> we've had five years of extraordinary transformation in the whole technology industry. when you think it's only five years ago that we didn't really have smart phones, we certainly didn't have tablet computers. all companies are trying to adjust to those changes to the rise of social network, the move to mobile, and in that move, there are winners and there are losers. and the losers are scrambling to try to do something about it. >> they are. julie larson green is taking over the position. she's been appointed as the

leader for all the engineering. >> we'll see how miss green gets on. from green to greek. >> it's going to be greece all this week. good news, bad news. those eurozone finance ministers gave an extra two years. so athens now has, well, from 2014, it now has a 2016 deadline to reach all those targets to cut their deficit. the bad news, those same finance ministers continue to postpone that extra chunk of bailout monday. >> wasn't it friday? >> well, they wanted it by this $40 billion, they wanted it this friday, because come this friday, athens has to pay out five billion in a loan repayment and it didn't have that money, i should say didn't have it up until a couple of hours ago because of this post point, they had to go back to the international money market. it should very short-term debt,

it raised just a pinch over five billion dollars. little bit of breathing space. here's another problem, the eggs extra tension time frame will cost the eurozone a little bit more money. >> from them. >> from them. listen to this. >> the two year extension was widely expected and really good news. it means the pain will be eased over the short term. of course what it does mean is it will take more effort to get to where you are the end of the day because there will be more money needed to be cut, if you like, ahead at some point in order to achieve targets in a later date. also means that you need to keep greece financed for slightly longer to be able to meet some its debt obligations in the meantime. so that means slightly more expensive,over all package. >> so a more expensive package to keep greece's head above the water. greek debt continues to rise. let me stress there are still some people out there that say it wouldn't be too surprising if

greece still does leave the eurozone some time next year. >> thanks. we're going to continue with our special coverage around the handover of the power in china. now one problem facing future leaders is territory dispute, the group of islands. our correspondent says -- has been taking a closer look at the uninhabited ark pell go. >> undercover of darkness we slip away from this japanese island. we are headed north into troubled waters. somewhere ahead is an island. after eight hours at sea, a speed boat suddenly emerges from the darkness. it's now just after 5:00 in the morning, you can see it's still

completely pitch dark here. but apparently just up ahead here is the first of the eye lands. those lights up there, that's a coast guard cutter that just pulled in front of us asking us to stop and now these three boats are boarding us. their message is clear in their body language. keep away from the island. as the sunrises we get our first view of the island. a jagged huddle of rocks sticking up from the deep blue waters of the east china sea. for decades, these islands for all but forgotten. now the japanese coast guard make sure that no one, japanese or chinese, can go aboard. but that's done nothing to help china. suddenly the japanese coast guard tells us there are chinese ships in their way. on the horizon we see them, four

ships, all clearly inside japanese waters. overhead a japanese air force plane swoops low, but the chinese ships steam on, undetered. until last month it was inconceiveable that japan and china could come to blows over this remote group of islands. yet look at the today, there's a tense standoff going on, the japanese coast guard is very nervous about us being here, they're clearly worried this could turn into some sort of international incident. this crisis is clearly not over. our skipper is shaken and wants to leave. it's scary, he says. i don't want to come back here again. chinese ships are now intruding into japanese waters every day. one japanese politician described this as being like a game of chicken. but in a game of chicken, if both sides refuse to back down, there is only one outcome.

>> police in beliz want to question someone in connection to the murder of a neighbor he had been quarreling with. officials say he remains a person of interest at this time and is not a suspect. his neighbor, gregory, a 52-year-old american was found dead after being shot in the head. the dalai lama has urged china to invest gate self emulations in tibet. at least eight have been reported in the last week in china's tibet region. activists say they are protests to highlight how unhappy they are with chinese rule. the hindu festival is being celebrated. festivities take place over a number of days, but today is the main focus of family traditions.

>> the hindu festival of lights is being celebrated across india. a wide variety of items that people decorate their homes with, you'll find people wearing new and colorful clothes over the five day festivities. it's also considered a good time to buy cars, homes and jewelry. that's because it's a festival honoring the god es of wealth, lakshima. it's tradition to offer prayers, and that's what's happening here in our office. it's considered a particularly nice spirit, so even though it is a national holiday, stock markets are open for trading. but it is at nighttime when india's streets really come alive with the festivities.

homes and shops are lit up with hundreds of lights and fire crackers are burst as families come together to celebrate one of india's biggest festivals. >> and to all of you celebrating, happy duvali. and the pentagon has said the top american commander in afghanistan, general john allen, is to be put under investigation. now general allen who denies any wrong doing is to be investig are being described as alleged inappropriate communications with one of the two women at the heart of the scandal that led to mr. petraeus's resignation last week. well, that's all for the moment. do stay here with us on "bbc world news."

>> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their expertise in global finance to guide you through the business strategies and opportunities of international commerce. we put our extended global network to work for a wide range of companies from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.